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EVEN A SMALL kitchen is big in terms of how much there is to clean. You spend just a little over an hour a day in your kitchen — but it’s not the actual time. It’s the sheer number of different things you do in your kitchen. Store food, prepare food, sometimes eat or snack, and then clean up after all that prepping, cooking and eating.

One way to keep kitchen tasks under control is to separate them by area or appliance. The fridge is its own universe that needs maintenance and cleaning. The pantry or cabinets where you keep food are other places that need occasional upkeep. The range top where you have burners, whether gas, electric or induction is a different zone from the oven.

The divide-and-conquer rule says instead of looking at your whole kitchen as one huge job to tackle, look at those specific zones. Even within those areas, you can subdivide further.

Here's how to divide and conquer cleaning the fridge:

Clean just one shelf
Reorganize and clean the little bins attached to the door
Spray and wipe the side walls of the fridge
Use a damp sponge to clean the gasket around the freezer

You won’t finish the whole thing in one day (or maybe even in one week), but you made a start. We know it's a cliche, but Rome wasn’t built in a day, and your kitchen isn’t going to be finished in a few hours.

You can still do a lot in just a few minutes, and the results can motivate you to keep going.

CLEAN IN SECONDS

Brighten your bathroom instantly

ISN'T IT WEIRD? Every time you brush your teeth or wash your face, this one little room gets a little bit dirtier. Soap — isn’t it supposed to CLEAN things? — actually can make things slimy and gross.

One thing that might be stopping you from cleaning the bathroom is overestimating the time it will take. It actually needs less time than you think. See our levels of cleaning at the end for estimates for how long it will take to do a small bathroom.

For now, try these three things to make an immediate difference.

Clean the mirror
Clean the sink
Clean the toilet

white ceramic bathtub near white bathtub

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CLEAN IN SECONDS

A 1-second kitchen trick

IF YOUR KITCHEN really needs a lot of cleaning and maintenance, don’t despair. You’re not alone, and you can likely whip it into shape over a week or two. Your kitchen may take a few sessions to bring it up to the standard you’d like to see. It might take longer than you originally hoped... and that's OK.

If it takes a month, that means a month from now you’ll have a kitchen you enjoy being in.

It’s not easy to decide where to start in a kitchen, so we suggest starting on whatever seems most appealing or possible to you.

But first, if you have them, open the windows! Fresh air will help your kitchen start to smell clean and fresh right away.

BATHROOM

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Another tough job, in my opinion, is cleaning the bathroom floor. When I dread doing some task, I find breaking it down into smaller parts can make it seem easier. Mind you, it’s not actually easier. It’s just that doing two or three small things — in this case, make sure the floor is clear of rugs and everything else, sweep the floor and then mop the floor — feels more achievable than one huge thing.

Some day when you’re bored, you can try cleaning the grout in the tile with a cleaner and a toothbrush or pointy scrub brush for this purpose.

I do it one tile at a time — once a day — takes a minute. The next day, I do another tile (these are big 15” tiles). The grout lines slowly get cleaner, and eventually it looks pretty good. I have the Rubbermaid battery operated scrubber gadget. It’s fun to use and doesn’t wear out my elbows (elbow grease, get it?) Rubbermaid power scrubber

CLEAN IN SECONDS

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CLEANING LEVELS

Go for the bronze!

Bronze Level 1 Speed-clean

Time estimate: 10 minutes.

Remove hair from bathtub drain - Sink - clear and clean bathtub edges - Spray and wipe mirrors - empty waste basket. Last step: sweep floor or use Swiffer mop, and put in clean towels. Remove personal items and “guest-proof” medicine cabinet.

Silver Level 2 Thorough

Time estimate: 15-25 minutes

(As above) Sink - bathtub edge - mirror - empty waste basket - toilet - sweep/swiffer mop - use rust remover where needed around faucet edges. Remove personal items and “guest-proof” the medicine cabinet.

Gold Level 3 Pristine

Time estimate: 45 minutes

Sink - bathtub edge - mirror - empty waste basket - toilet - sweep and mop - use rust remover where needed around faucet edges - touch up any corners that seem really grimy - spray grimy spots on doors - clean outside of toilet base and sides - wipe down all light, and fan switches and door knobs - remove and clean shower head - Remove personal items and “guest-proof” medicine cabinet.